As report by John and our friends at the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia:
According to NJ.com a bicyclist was killed after being struck from behind on Dutch Neck Road in East Windsor Township, Mercer County NJ on Tuesday. The Driver, a 55 year-old woman, has been charged with Vehicular Homicide as she was allegedly driving under the influence of prescription drugs.
But that may not be the only contributing factor. An earlier article quoted a police officer saying that Dutch Neck Rd has an adequate shoulder has although the StreetView shows a 3-4 foot shoulder on the westbound side where the crash occurred. A commenter on the same article noted that the while shoulder was plowed "most of the snow was throw(n) from the main part of the road onto the shoulder so in some parts, there was only maybe a foot of shoulder lane that was not covered in snow."
View 2010 Bicycle Crashes in a larger map
This is the type of stuff that is so tragic and so un-necessary. I don't know if the 3 foot passing law will make any difference in the future but at least it will be a start in getting people to think about how to pass safely. It will be interesting to see what the outcome will be regarding the homicide charge. I'm guessing the drive will get off with virtually no punishment.
ReplyDeleteSee more about this on the West Windsor Bicycle and Pedestrian Alliance's Web site, including a great commentary by a WWBPA who, like Edward Boye, is handicapped. (http://wwbpa.org/2010/02/thoughts-on-the-death-of-edward-boye/)
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